Horse Riding in Sydney – Riding Lessons For Beginners
Sydney is a terrific city for horse riding. There are stables in the heart of the city at Centennial Park, plus several on the bushy outskirts of the city.
Then there’s the delights of trail rides in the Blue Mountains and in lovely country to the north and south of the city too.
A while ago my twins enjoyed a pony ride, which I wrote about in Pony Rides For Preschoolers.
To find a reputable stables in and around Sydney, have a look at these websites:
The NSW branch of Australian Horse Riding Centres has lists of accredited stables in Sydney and around the state.
http://www.horseridingnsw.com.au/
The national body Australian Horse Riding Centres website can be found at http://www.horseriding.org.au/ and has details of stables across Australia.
Visitors to Sydney might do well to start with these stables:
Centennial Parklands Equestrian Centre is probably Sydney’s best known riding centre. We’ve never had a ride around Centennial Park so I am definitely adding that to the list of family things to do in 2012.
http://www.cpequestrian.com.au/
This past weekend my wee girl did her first ever proper riding lessons.
We went to a stables that’s local to us, Palamino Riding Stables in Belrose.
Minnie did a 30 minute lesson, and learned the basics first: start, stop and turn.
Then she and her very steady mount, Smart, did sitting trots and then a basic rising trot. All that in just 30 minutes.
She really enjoyed it as you can see.
I’m going to teach her this little ditty that I learned when I was a young girl, doing a few riding lessons in Scotland.
Your head and heart keep high Your hands and heels keep low Your knees keep close to your horse’s side
And your elbows close to your own
It’s lovely to see her enjoy horse riding. And lovely for me to be at a stables and enjoy patting noses and smelling that soft horsey smell.
Might even have a ride through the bush myself some day soon!
Have your kids doing riding lessons?
Can you recommend a Sydney stables to other families?
